Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Visionaries of Tomorrow Francis Manapul Interview: The Start of Something Big!

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That interpretation appeared briefly in the pre-boot period (somewhere in the 260-270 range). There were some scenes suggesting that Brin was struggling with civilization. I forget the exact issue, but I always loved the scene in which Brin and Ayla are at a zoo, and he described feeling like one of the caged animals and said that his time in civilization was likely to end soon.

It was a cool interpretation of the character that fell by the wayside when Giffen de-feralized Brin.

I'm just not sure how that interpretation fits with the post-boot Brin. But I'll keep an open mind.

I hope it is Shooter as he put an individual stamp on the Lu character like nobody had previously or since. He was certainly clever at using her limited powers to their utmost.

That mirrors my thoughts as well.

Frankly, I'm a bit puzzled as to a few unnecessary changes, and one or two make no sense whatsover.

Biggest improvements: Timber Wolf (feral again), Saturn Girl, Karate Kid and Phantom Girl

Worst changes: Colossal Boy's Leifeld costume, Lightning Lad's and Light Lass's boring new duds (they were two of my favorite Kitson designs).

What's with the chain mail on Chameleon Boy. I think they should either go back to the preboot look or go with the lava lamp design that Kitson suggested for this series.

Why does Shadow Lass have a brown cape? And why is there so much brown being used all over the place?

Sun Boy is back in his yellow PJs look?!

I don't know. Over all, I like the energey of that preview pic, but I'm going to have to see more before I decide whether or not to support Legion again.

Really interested in seeing what becomes of the Legion Saga team.

I'm not sure how I feel about (yet another Legion change) this...but the "L" belts I can tell you I do not welcome. I like the individuality on the team. I think the rings give the LSH all the "uniformity" they need.

Yep. This is the Legion, not the Fantastic Four!

The more I see of that new Light Lass design, the more I really miss the old one. It was perfect! I know Kitson went overboard on the belly shirts, but the design worked for Ayla -- who seems to be more of a free spirit than the rest.

Hey Francis, nice work. Saturn Girl's pink bikini is my all time favorite of hers and it's nice to see it brought back in some form. The whole look to her is pretty neat looking right now.


Your Phantom Girl wins...all time, that's the prettiest she's ever looked and I've always thought she was the prettiest female Legionaire. I think it was the pig tails long ago.



RE Shooter being the new writer:

I don't see it guys. This isn't Shooter's Legion, and some of the characters he created are the ones most changed in this version.

If Shooter writes any Legion stories I have a feeling it will be with the Legion shown in the Lightning Saga. And just as well...that's the type of Legion he wrote at it's peak. And this one is different.

When he was talking about doing a Legion story a while back...he was definitely talking about doing a story about his Legion. The way he phrased it....he sounded like he was going to be picking it up from sometime right after his Adventure Run or possibly the Action run...not even including his brief early 70's SLOSH run.


I have a feeling the new writer might be more along the lines of someone like Kurt Busiek, who I believe is a Legion Fan...and if it is Kurt and his Legion is 1/10th as good as his Superman...we're in a for a real treat.


It could be Shooter...but I just wouldn't see the logic behind it...most of the fans of this Legion aren't big fans of Shooter's Legion. Shooter writing this Legion doesn't have the same appeal as it would the Lightning Saga Legion...which would be something akin to a Landmark Comics event to long time LegionFans IMO....the majority of whom revere him as much if not moreso as the rest of the comics world reveils him. When you are talking old school Legion...Shooter's name is still pure gold. I know I wouldn't be near as excited to see him writing the W&K Legion...although I would be excited to see him writing any kind of Legion again I have to admit.

If you give Shooter time to plan stuff out and he doesn't try to do to much or do so much he burns himself out, if he just focuses on writing good stories and putting out good product...Shooter is a comicbook genius. But when he goes into his ultra competitive axe grinding mode his work suffers for it...I personally would like to see Shooter back in the industry...I just don't know if he could maintain a high level of quality since that's seemed to be his shortcoming throughout his career...comes on like gangbusters, finishes up writing tired angry stuff and having made a few more enemies in the business. I'd really like to see Jim hit a high note one more time in his career and hopefully finish it out that way...it'd be a real shame if he doesn't....with all the great things he did in his career. And it'd be even more awesome if he finished it writing the Legion...the one circle of the industry where he's always fit in and never worn out his welcome. I think he knows his status in Legion Fandom too...and I think he has warm feelings for that segment of comic book fandom as well.

Wasn't the interlac "L" used on the rings during the Baxter era? I thought Booster Gold's ring also had the interlac L...

here's a side by side comparison of Binary and this Saturn Girl design.

(can't get it to show up so here's the link. aaargh.)
http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sgbiwh3.jpg

I'm a bit late to the party but what-the-hey, here're my 2 cents -

* My first thought when I saw that picture was 'Wow! Very X-Men!' I don't really like that style of art so that thought wasn't a good one.

* There are a few kinda nice costume re-designs in there though. Invisible Kid, Saturn Girl, Shrinking Violet and Brainiac 5 are all improvements over the Kitson designs. And Lightning Lad and Phantom Girl's outfits are quite nice in their own right.

* Karate Kid's outfit is a classic and so always welcome but it's just a shame that it's come at the expense of Kitson's Karate Kid costume, which along with Star Boy's were the only two designs of his that I liked.

* Speaking of bad costumes - I have no idea why people are raving about Colossal Boy's. It's a slight improvement over Kitson's 'Super-Hero Costume Design in Under 30 Seconds!' outfit for Gim but that's not saying much.

* I wish I could muster up more enthusiasm for this image but nearly every iota of my Legion interest has been squandered by the previous creative teams on this book. I wonder how different my reaction to this artist's work would've been if I wasn't already supremely disenchanted with all the characters he's drawing?

New uniforms again already? In case those yahoos at DC haven't figured it out yet, what this book really needs is more than 5 minutes worth of continuity before it undergoes major changes all over again.

I like the new artistic style though. It's fresh and new.

What if this is the Karate Kid from Countdown? Maybe they killed his younger version and the older one joined this Legion as a mentor type figure. Sort of like when the SW6 Cham died and was replaced by his adult counterpart back in the post TMK days.

In an interview given to Wizard about his choice to work for DC and on LSH in particular:

Hey, look what i found:
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/9238/smalllosh37doublecover5ug4.jpg

The pencilled version is too big so i'm only putting the link.

It seems that some people in France (people that i know and that are in the edition business), friends of Francis it seems, know the name of the writer already!

They are saying that the name of the writer will surprised a lot of people, but that long term fans of the series will be showing a lot of enthousiasm, like Francis!
According to that messages board, the pitch is very good!

Before you say anything, i want to add that i know this person, and that it's not someone that is throwing rumors like that for fun on messages boards, just to be interesting.

But they're keeping mum on the actual name? Or are you sworn to secrecy?

In any case that sure sounds like Shooter they're describing. We'll see...

Has Francis or DC said when the announcement will be made?

I don't even know who that is, so it doesn't bother me that Saturn Girl's costume looks like that. I mean, Imra's not on *fire* like the other girl...

The fact that it's still in keeping with Saturn Girl's previous looks and that it's a nod to Cockrum makes me not mind the similarity (and it's not like Ms. Marvel is Binary anymore).

I actually posted that back here the other day.

Last I heard was that they might announce the writer at Baltimore.

A small clarification:

Dave Cockrum didn't design the pink bikini. It was designed by a Legion fan (can't find the name at the moment) and debuted in the last new Legion story in Action before the publishing hiatus and the jump to Superboy.

Of course, Cockrum didn't CHANGE the costume again, even though it was brand new. Wonder if he liked it?

Binary might have been one of Dave's last great female costumes, done in the early 1980s during the first "Brood" storyline--a very simple but powerful look.

Oops! Sorry Lightning Lad! I read all the posts, but i missed that.

Lard Lad: no, i don't know who the writer is! And i'm as impatient as anybody here!

If it was revealed at Baltimore, it would be good, but i doubt it. But you never know...

I heard that the new writer is going to be Jessica Fletcher, and they are renaming the title "Legion, She Wrote"

I've never said these word before -- "I'm really looking forward to going to Baltimore."

hey guys I think they will be announcing the writer in the next 3-4 weeks. That's the most I can say. And sketchlad thanks for the side by side it does look pretty similar! However the costume I was trying to design it after was the pink bikini. I basically just covered the flesh part with pink and made the "bikini" part white to relate to the current colors.

Wow... I had forgotten that story. That was the one with "Saturn Lad" and "Prince Projectur", right?

Pozr... I never caught that until just now

That's the one. Last Action appearance, #392.